Guidelines: Our Research With Plants Rubric Info.doc

What is needed to make a plant? (ST & LS)

A plant is made up of a specific cell called a plant cell. A plant cell has a cell wall, a large vacuole for storing food, and a chloroplast that stores chlorophyll. If you have a plant cell then you can make a plant. (ST)

What vitamins do plants need? (JRM)

A: Plants need 16 chemical elements and they’re broken down into two categories: mineral and non mineral. The non mineral nutrients are hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. The plant gets them from the air and water.
The other 13 come from the soil and get dissolved by the water and absorbed by the roots. The chemicals are called: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, boron, copper, chloride, magnesium, molybdenum, and zinc. For more information see the link below. JM

(http://www.agr.state.nc.us/cyber/kidswrld/plant/nutrient.htm)

What is fertilizer? (LS)


How do plants move to face the sun? (PH & RH)

Auxins (plants hormones) break the bonds in a cell wall structure making it less rigid which causes the acidic environment to disrupt the hydrogen bonds in the cellulose that makes up the cell wall. The decrease in cell wall strength causes the photo tropic movement. For a more thorough explanation visit Phototropism at Wikipedia RH

Why do plants die from too much water? (JRM & LB)

Plants die when they have too much water because they do not have the energy or room absorb the water. LB


A: If there is too much water in the soil or the plant is planted too deep, there is not enough air to breath, so the plant dies. Just like when you’re swimming and your mouth gets full of water and you can’t breathe. It’s the same for the plant. For more information click link below. JM

(http://www.answers.com/bb/bbsearch.jsp?Q=why%20do%20plants%20e)

What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? (ST & PH)



How do shade plants perform photosynthesis? (JRM & RH)

Plants that get sunlight in the shade usually have long weak stems and smaller sparser leaves due to longer inter winds and a pale yellow color. This is a mechanism to increase the likeness that a plant will reach sunlight. RH
A: Shade plants have bigger leaves that are thinner and have more chlorophyll. The leaves are bigger so when the sun does hit the leaves they absorb and store more sunlight for energy and they are smaller plants so they don’t need as much energy. For more information click link below. JM

(http://www.marietta.edu/~spilatrs/biol103/photolab/sun_shad.html)

How is an orange a living organism? (LB)

An orange is a living organism because it is an ovary of a plant. A plant is an living organism because it has cells, the ability to reproduce and the need for resources.

When you eat an orange, are you eating a living plant? (LS)


Why are oranges so sweet? (PH)


How do seedless oranges reproduce? (NS & ST)

They can not reproduce, they are caused by the crossing a diploid orange with a tetraploid orange.
For more go to:
http://www.almanac.com/gardening/oneanswer.php?questionnumber=12747 -NS

Seeds need moisture to germinate. Why do orange seeds not grow into plants on their own? (NS)

Because they need soil, water, and heat. None of which they have on their own.
For more go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germination#Germination_rate

Why is red algae used in ice cream? (NS)

As a stabilizer, making the Ice Cream firmer. -NS
For more visit http://www.life.umd.edu/classroom/bsci124/lec17.html

Where is the DNA of a plant located? (NS)

As they are Eukaryotes, It can be found in the nucleus. -NS
For more on Eukaryotes visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eukaryote